Rerun

promise

The recurring promise of a healthcare plan "in two weeks"

You're probably here because of the Sep 2026 rerun. This is the 13th time since 2016 this has been promised. The previous rerun was Jan 2026.

About this story

Since his 2016 campaign, Donald Trump has repeatedly promised a comprehensive plan to replace the Affordable Care Act. He has put dates on it ("a couple of weeks," "two months, maybe less," "within two weeks") and described it as "terrific," "phenomenal" or "fully developed." In his first term, the 2017 House bill failed in the Senate and a 2020 executive order stated policy goals, but no comprehensive replacement plan was released. In 2024 he described having "concepts of a plan." In January 2026 the White House released a "Great Healthcare Plan" framework that still needs Congress to act.

Sources: 1, 2

20162026

Rerun #13

Sep 2026 "We will pass the Great Healthcare Plan" (September 2026)

Speaking at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas on Sept. 9, 2026, Trump said, "We will pass the Great Healthcare Plan to stop all government payments to big insurance companies, and give the money directly to the people," as HuffPost reported. By then the White House had already released the "Great Healthcare Plan" as a legislative framework on Jan. 15, 2026. Medical Economics described it as needing approval from Congress and as not fully replacing the Affordable Care Act. On Sept. 14, HuffPost wrote that roughly two years after Trump's "concepts" remark in the 2024 debate, the proposal was "still very much a work in progress." On Oct. 2, 2026, the White House said Trump "is calling on Congress to enact the Great Healthcare Plan."

  • HuffPost article
    Roughly two years after President Donald Trump claimed he had "concepts" of a healthcare plan during a debate with former Vice President Kamala Harris, his proposal is still very much a work in progress.
  • nypost.com article

Sources: HuffPost needs a second source · ABC News reliable · whitehouse.gov reliable · medicaleconomics.com needs a second source

Rerun #12

Jan 2026 The "Great Healthcare Plan" framework is released

On 15 January 2026 the White House released the "Great Healthcare Plan," which its fact sheet describes as "a comprehensive plan to lower drug prices, lower insurance premiums, hold big insurance companies accountable, and maximize price transparency." NBC News reported that "Trump has been promising a health care plan overhaul for months" and that the plan "lacks key details and largely restates proposals President Donald Trump has previously outlined." NBC also reported that officials gave no details on how direct payments would be distributed, how large they would be or who would qualify. Both the White House and the press coverage said the plan needs Congress to act. CRFB called it "a legislative framework."

  • whitehouse.gov statement
    Today, President Donald J. Trump called on Congress to enact the Great Healthcare Plan
  • NBC News article
    the plan lacks key details and largely restates proposals President Donald Trump has previously outlined

Sources: NBC News reliable · crfb.org needs a second source · whitehouse.gov reliable

Rerun #11

Nov 2025 – Dec 2025 "Send the money directly to the people"; the rollout is delayed

On 8 November 2025, during the shutdown fight over expiring enhanced ACA subsidies, Trump posted on Truth Social that he was "recommending to Senate Republicans" that subsidy money "BE SENT DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE." Axios reported "There's no detailed policy proposal to go with the post." On 23 November, CNN reported that the White House had postponed a health-care cost proposal Trump had been expected to unveil the next day. CNN described the plan as part of Trump's effort "to fulfill his vow to deliver a better alternative" to the subsidies, and Axios on 25 November tied the delay to pushback from Republicans in Congress. On 2 December, CNN reported that the effort had stalled amid GOP disagreements, with doubts that any proposal would be ready for a Senate vote expected the following week; no plan had been released by then.

  • Axios article
    There's no detailed policy proposal to go with the post, but other Republicans and think tanks have proposed changes along similar lines.
  • CNN article
    President Donald Trump was originally expected to unveil the plan on Monday, but now that is not happening.
  • CNN article
    President Donald Trump's push for a new health care plan has stalled, amid disagreements within the GOP over the extension of key enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies

Sources: Axios reliable · CNN reliable · Axios reliable · CNN reliable

Rerun #10

Sep 2024 Concepts of a plan

At the September 10, 2024 ABC News debate, moderator Linsey Davis asked Trump whether he had a plan to replace the Affordable Care Act. He answered, "I have concepts of a plan. I'm not president right now" (Axios). He also said, "you'll be hearing about it in the not-too-distant future" (ABC). Axios wrote that Trump had promised a new health care plan "since the 2016 election" and that the promise "has so far remained undelivered." Axios also recalled his 2020 pledge to sign "a full and complete health care plan" "within two weeks." KFF's Larry Levitt noted that Trump's 2020 budget had proposed "the concept of an ACA replacement plan." It would have replaced the ACA's premium subsidies and Medicaid expansion with a block grant to states and capped federal Medicaid spending, but Levitt wrote it "has never gotten much attention."

  • Axios article
    I have concepts of a plan. I'm not president right now.
  • ABC News article
    And there are concepts and options we have to do that. And you'll be hearing about it in the not-too-distant future.
  • kff.org article
    He did, in fact, propose the concept of an ACA replacement plan in his 2020 budget, though it has never gotten much attention.
  • c-span.org video Watch
    concepts of a plan

Sources: ABC News reliable · Axios reliable · kff.org needs a second source

Rerun #9

Nov 2023 Seriously looking at alternatives

On Nov. 25, 2023, Trump wrote on Truth Social: "The cost of Obamacare is out of control, plus, it's not good Healthcare. I'm seriously looking at alternatives." In the same post he called the 2017 vote by Republican senators not to terminate the law "a low point for the Republican Party" (CBS, NBC). CBS reported that Trump later said he did not want to terminate Obamacare but to "replace it with much better healthcare." CNN reported on Nov. 30 that the campaign "has not yet drafted any kind of health care policy alternative." That makes this another pledge to replace Obamacare with no plan drafted.

  • NBC News article
    Over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, Republican presidential primary front-runner Donald Trump revived calls to roll back Obamacare
  • CNN article
    One Trump adviser told CNN the post came “completely came out of nowhere,”
  • cbsnews.com article
    Later, Trump clarified that he does not want to terminate Obamacare, but rather "replace it with much better healthcare."

Sources: Public Broadcasting Service reliable · NBC News reliable · CNN reliable · cbsnews.com reliable

Rerun #8

Oct 2020 The "60 Minutes" interview and the health care book

In a 60 Minutes interview recorded on October 20, 2020 and aired October 25, Lesley Stahl reminded Trump that he had said a health care plan would be "here in two weeks." Trump answered that it "is fully developed" and would be announced "when we see what happens with Obamacare." His press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, then gave Stahl a heavy book she called "his health care plan." 60 Minutes said it was "filled with executive orders, congressional initiatives, but no comprehensive health plan." A Yahoo News retrospective written after Biden's inauguration said no Trump health care plan had ever been made public. Before that, the closest thing delivered was a September 2020 executive order on preexisting-condition protections, which the article described as lacking a legal way to enforce them.

  • cbsnews.com article
    It is developed, it is fully developed. It's going to be announced very soon--
  • The Hill article
    Trump on Wednesday had also tweeted out photos from the interview, including one of the moment where Stahl was handed the book of Trump's plans on health care.
  • x.com social post
    filled with executive orders and congressional initiatives, but no comprehensive healthcare plan.

Sources: cbsnews.com reliable · The Hill reliable · thefiscaltimes.com needs a second source · Yahoo News reliable

Rerun #7

Sep 2020 The deadline passes, then the "America First Healthcare Plan" order

On 19 July 2020, Trump told Fox News he would sign "a full and complete health care plan" within two weeks. At a 3 August briefing he said the plan would likely come before the end of that month (CNN, 5 Sept). CNN reported on 5 September that the August deadline had passed without a plan. On 24 September Trump signed Executive Order 13951, "An America-First Healthcare Plan." CNN described the measures as falling "far short of a comprehensive proposal." Advisory Board reported that the order did not set out specific measures to protect people with pre-existing conditions if the ACA were struck down.

  • CNN article
    with his latest self-imposed deadline passing without a plan.
  • federalregister.gov statement
    Executive Order 13951 of September 24, 2020
  • CNN article
    The measures, which fall far short of a comprehensive proposal, come less than six weeks before the presidential election
  • youtube.com video

Sources: CNN reliable · federalregister.gov needs a second source · advisory.com needs a second source · kffhealthnews.org needs a second source

Rerun #6

Jul 2020 – Aug 2020 Within two weeks

On July 19, 2020, Trump told Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday: "We're signing a health care plan within two weeks, a full and complete health care plan." He repeated it in the following weeks. On July 31, he said a plan was coming "very soon," and "Might be Sunday." On Aug. 3, he said a "tremendous healthcare plan" would come "hopefully, prior to the end of the month." On Aug. 7, he said he would pursue an executive order on pre-existing conditions "over the next two weeks." As the two weeks were expiring, the Post reported no evidence of a replacement plan. The White House pointed instead to four drug-pricing executive orders from late July. As of Aug. 13, KFF Health News reported that Trump "has yet to deliver."

  • kffhealthnews.org article
    We're signing a health care plan within two weeks, a full and complete health care plan that the Supreme Court decision on DACA gave me the right to do.
  • trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov statement
    we're going to be introducing a tremendous healthcare plan sometime prior — hopefully, prior to the end of the month. It's just completed now.
  • cnbc.com article
    Over the next two weeks I'll be pursuing a major executive order requiring health insurance companies to cover all pre-existing conditions for all customers,
  • youtube.com video
    We're signing a health care plan within two weeks. A full and…

Sources: kffhealthnews.org needs a second source · The Washington Post reliable · cnbc.com reliable · trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov reliable

Rerun #5

Jun 2019 About two months. Maybe less.

In the ABC interview that aired June 16, 2019, Trump said "we already have the concept of the plan." Asked whether he had to tell people what it was, he said "we'll be announcing that in about two months. Maybe less." He added that this was "subject to winning back the House, Senate and the presidency." The next day, senior White House officials told ABC that they were far away from an actual health care bill and were drafting "high-level principles" instead. On June 26, Trump promised "a plan that blows away ObamaCare" if Republicans won the House, kept the Senate and kept the presidency. By then, The Hill reported, he had turned to a series of administrative actions focused on costs, including an executive order requiring price disclosure that he announced earlier that week.

  • ABC News article
    Yeah, well, we'll be announcing that in about two months. Maybe less.
  • ABC News article
    But senior White House officials have told ABC News that they're far away from putting together an actual health care bill.
  • The Hill article
    If we win the House back, keep the Senate and keep the presidency, we'll have a plan that blows away ObamaCare,

Sources: ABC News reliable · thefiscaltimes.com needs a second source · The Hill reliable · PolitiFact reliable

Rerun #4

Mar 2019 – Apr 2019 Trump says GOP will be "the party of health care" and promises a plan with a vote after the 2020 election

On March 26, 2019, the day after his Justice Department announced it was siding with a district court ruling and argued that the entire ACA should be invalidated, Trump said the Republican Party "will soon be known as the party of health care." In tweets late on April 1, he said Republicans were "developing a really great HealthCare Plan" and that the vote would come after the 2020 election, once Republicans held the Senate and won back the House. This came after McConnell said he had "made it clear" to Trump that the Senate would not take up health legislation before then (PBS). On April 3, Trump tweeted that he had never planned a vote before the election (PBS). In August 2020, PolitiFact/KHN wrote that he had "yet to deliver" an ACA replacement.

  • NBC News article
    The Republicans are developing a really great HealthCare Plan with far lower premiums (cost) & deductibles than ObamaCare
  • The Hill article
    The Republican Party will soon be known as the party of health care. You watch,
  • Public Broadcasting Service article
    I made it clear to him that we were not going to be doing that in the Senate
  • CNN video Watch

Sources: CNN reliable · The Washington Post reliable · Public Broadcasting Service reliable · PolitiFact reliable

Rerun #3

Feb 2017 "Maybe into next year," then "a couple of weeks"

In a Fox News interview that aired 5 February 2017, Trump said replacing the ACA "maybe it will take till sometime into next year," and called it "very complicated" (The Hill). Bloomberg described the interview as setting a longer time frame than he had given before. On 18 February, at a rally in Melbourne, Fla., Trump said his administration would submit "a great healthcare plan" "in a couple of weeks" (The Hill). No plan had been released at that point. On 6 March, House Republicans released the American Health Care Act through the Ways and Means Committee, and on 16 March PolitiFact called it "the first iteration" of the plan Trump had promised.

  • The Hill article
    We are going to be submitting in a couple of weeks a great healthcare plan that's going to take the place of the disaster known as ObamaCare,
  • Bloomberg article
    the process for coming up with a replacement for the Affordable Care Act could stretch into 2018
  • c-span.org video Watch
    We are going to be submitting in a couple of weeks a great healthcare plan that's going to take the place of the disaster known as ObamaCare

Sources: The Hill reliable · Bloomberg reliable · waysandmeans.house.gov needs a second source · PolitiFact reliable

Rerun #2

Jan 2017 Insurance for everybody

In a Washington Post interview published Jan. 15, 2017, President-elect Trump said his plan to replace the Affordable Care Act was "very much formulated down to the final strokes" and that "we're going to have insurance for everybody." He said he would release it "soon" alongside congressional leaders, after the Senate confirmed his health secretary nominee, Rep. Tom Price. The Post reported he "declined to reveal specifics." The only details he offered were "lower numbers, much lower deductibles." By then, Trump's campaign had posted a health plan blueprint on its website in March 2016, which KFF Health News described as "skimpy on details." KFF Health News later described Trump's history of promising "a health plan that never comes." In March 2017, House Republicans, with White House backing, introduced the replacement bill, the American Health Care Act.

  • The Washington Post article
    It's very much formulated down to the final strokes. We haven't put it in quite yet but we're going to be doing it soon
  • insurancejournal.com article
    Trump did not give the newspaper specifics about his proposals
  • CNN article
    President-elect Donald Trump is putting the finishing touches on an Obamacare replacement plan

Sources: The Washington Post reliable · CNN reliable · thefiscaltimes.com needs a second source · kffhealthnews.org needs a second source

Rerun #1

Mar 2016 Trump campaign releases seven-point health care plan, "Healthcare Reform to Make America Great Again"

Trump had promised for months to repeal the ACA and replace it. In 2015 he said on CNN he would replace it with "something terrific," according to PolitiFact. On the evening of Wednesday, March 2, 2016, his campaign posted a seven-point plan on its website and promoted it with a tweet (NBC). It was titled "Healthcare Reform to Make America Great Again" (PolitiFact). According to Reuters and Ballotpedia, the plan included: repealing Obamacare (Reuters) and getting rid of the individual mandate (NBC); selling insurance across state lines; letting people fully deduct their insurance premiums from their taxes; health savings accounts; price transparency; turning Medicaid into block grants to the states; allowing imported drugs. PolitiFact later called it a "blueprint" that "echoed popular GOP talking points but was skimpy on details." So by this date, what had been delivered was a short position page on the campaign website.

  • NBC News article
    In a seven-point plan posted to his website and publicized by a tweet
  • fortune.com article
    Donald Trump on Wednesday unveiled proposals for reforming U.S. healthcare that included repealing Obamacare

Sources: NBC News reliable · fortune.com reliable · PolitiFact reliable · ballotpedia.org needs a second source